Deal in flux for Cardinals to buy Redbirds, city of Memphis to own AutoZone Park

November 19, 2013 - Colby Bowen leaves a small reception for Redbird’s supporters Tuesday evening to shoot some photos of Autozone Park. Bowen, a merchandiser for the Redbirds, joined investors, community leaders, and Autozone Park Board members during a formal announcement about plans to sell the park to the city and the Redbirds team to the St. Louis Cardinals.

AutoZone Park could have a new look under ownership by the city of Memphis in tandem with Redbirds ownership by the St. Louis Cardinals, but details of how that transaction will work remained hazy Tuesday.

At an invitation-only rally for business leaders Tuesday night in the stadium's club level, the team unveiled renderings of improvements that would be part of the deal that would see the Cardinals buy their Class AAA affiliate and the city purchase the stadium.

Grass berms would replace seating in the left and right field corners, a new premium seating area would replace some suites and restaurant-style seating would occupy some current club seats.

John Mozeliak, Cardinals general manager, twice said the team would want to "re-brand" the park, injecting "some energy, some dollars" into the facility that opened in 2000. These improvements wouldn't take place until at least after the 2014 season, and the cost of them would be part of the overall financing, Cardinals chairman and CEO Bill DeWitt Jr. said.

The broader deal, which will be presented to the City Council on Dec. 3, remains somewhat in flux.

Earlier Tuesday, city housing and community development director Robert Lipscomb estimated the value of the stadium at about $31 million or $32 million based on a late-summer appraisal, but said the actual purchase price has not been settled.

"We're still working on a couple of things," Lipscomb said. "That's part of our ongoing due diligence. So we're getting close. Getting real close."

Laurence Gottlieb, chairman and CEO of stadium bondholder Fundamental Advisors, said there are "pieces of the puzzle that remain undone."

Mayor A C Wharton said the deal was still being negotiated. Wharton arrived at the event around 5:45 p.m. and said he was on the phone with Lipscomb talking about the negotiations 10 minutes earlier.

Wharton said a deal would be structured so that the city didn't have to dip into its general fund to make bond payments. He said funding for maintenance of the park would also be built into the financing.

"I'm convinced that the upside outweighs any downside," Wharton said.

A 17-year lease with the city has been "discussed," DeWitt said. Asked if the Cardinals' deal to buy the team was contingent on the Council approving the stadium purchase, DeWitt said it was contingent on "a fair-market lease."

Redbirds Foundation president Ray Pohlman said the money from the sale of the team would go toward paying off the park's debt.

Forbes magazine recently estimated the Redbirds' worth at $29 million. When Las Vegas' AAA team was sold recently, the Las Vegas Sun reported it was sold for $20.5 million. As for the stadium, some $57 million remains owed on the original bonds according to the team's most recent IRS filing, but Fundamental bought the debt for $24 million in 2010. Gottlieb said his company had put in "multiple millions of dollars" in capital improvements.

It's unclear what form the foundation would take if the deal closes, but Wharton stressed that there are assurances that the RBI program, which facilitates inner-city baseball, would remain in place.

Wharton touted the deal as good not just for the real estate at Third and Union but, mentioning the RBI program, for the entire city. Pohlman said it's "very hard to measure" how much the park has meant to Downtown's development.

"Go ask all these restaurants around here," Pohlman said, gesturing to Union Avenue outside the park's windows. "Ask all these hotels."

Former Redbirds president Allie Prescott asked attendees to be receptive to appeals from the club for suite leases and ticket guarantees. The original 15-year agreements for suites expire at the end of 2014. Prescott said early meetings with local corporate titans FedEx, AutoZone and First Tennessee Bank have given "early indications of their commitment."

DeWitt also said Tuesday that the Cardinals would play the Redbirds in an exhibition at AutoZone Park on March 28, 2014. If all goes according to the plans of those at Tuesday night's confab, it could be the first event there under new ownership.

And if that deal doesn't happen?

"I don't want to paint a dark picture," Gottlieb said, "but we need this deal to get done."